BACKGROUND Craniosynostosis results from premature closure of one or more cranial sutures, leading to deformed calvaria and craniofacial skeleton at birth. Postoperative complications and outcome in intensive care unit (ICU) is related to surgical method and perioperative management. This study determined the perioperative risk factors, which affect outcome of patients after craniosynostosis...

Vascular surgical patients and especially those with end-stage renal disease are exposed to a high risk of preventable adverse events. Typically, a combination of organizational and technical deficiencies, human error or ineptitude and patient comorbidity leads to inadvertently poor outcome. Patient safety in perioperative environments requires permanent effort in organizational improvement, st...

Background Several UMCG-wide implementation projects improving quality and patient safety have been organized to stimulate the (intrinsic) motivation to work safely in order to bring about the intended change. We deployed ‘change agents’ in various involved groups of professionals and trained them in supporting and stimulating their colleagues to work safely according to the latest evidence bas...

In June 2010, the European Board of Anaesthesiology (EBA) of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) and the European Society of Anaesthesiology (ESA) signed the Helsinki Declaration for Patient Safety in Anaesthesiology at the Euroanaesthesia meeting in Helsinki. The document had been jointly prepared by these two principal anaesthesiology organisations in Europe who pledged to improv...

The concept of using a checklist in surgical and anaesthetic practice was energized by publication of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist in 2008. It was believed that by routinely checking common safety issues, and by better team communication and dynamics, perioperative morbidity and mortality could be improved. The magnitude of improvement demonstrated by the WHO pilot studies was surprising. ...

Surgical injury is followed by pain, stress-induced catabolism, impairment of organ function, and a risk of thromboembolism and impaired cognitive function. These events may contribute to complications, a need for prolonged hospitalization, postoperative fatigue, delayed convalescence, and the need for rehabilitation. Optimization of the individual care components in perioperative care (the fas...

To the Editor: The recent update of the report “Practice Guidelines for the Perioperative Management of Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea” by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Perioperative Management of Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea did not provide any new recommendations.1 Like its predecessor, the updated version includes “table 2,” a scoring system for peri...

Heart, Lung and Vessels. 2014, Vol. 6 Corresponding author: Paolo Grassi, M.D. Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria “Ospedali Riuniti” 34142 Trieste, Italy e-mail: [email protected] Obtaining adequate analgesia after major surgery is a problematic issue and postoperative pain still imposes a major burden of suffering on surgical patients (1...

AIMS Safety of liver surgery for colorectal cancer liver metastases after neoadjuvant chemotherapy has to be re-evaluated. PATIENTS AND METHODS Two hundred Patients were prospectively analyzed after surgery for colorectal cancer liver metastases between 2001 and 2004 at our institution. Special emphasis was given to perioperative morbidity and mortality under modern perioperative care. RESU...